THE NEW ZEALAND LOAN

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 28, 3 February 1914, Page 8

THE NEW ZEALAND LOAN

SIU JOSEPH WARD REPLIES TO MR. ALLEN Sir Joseph Ward, Leader of tho Opposition, who returned to Wellington from , the North yesterday, in the course of an interview, replied to statements mode by tho Hon. J, Allen, Minister of Fi» nance, in regard to tho loan which has just/ been raised by New Zealand on, the London mark«t. He said : "I have been verjj plealsed to see from Mr. Allen's remarks that lid is satisfied with tho result of the flotation of tho loan. It is rightly a subject upoh which the Minister may feel elated, but some of his pupportiftg (state* ments have such a distinct colour of party, intended to be eulogistic of Ins own In ends, and at, \eaat condemnatory of his opponents, that his remarks call for some slight review. Shorn of all its paddmg, tho real reason for the successful dotation of the loan >* the enormous accumulation of money at Home. Both in the House and out of it. I have pointod out the position, and havo .frequently isaid that the price „of « money was bound to fall. For that reason, I havo pointed to the inadvisability of obtain* ing long-dated loans when money ia high, and only a short time ago I uttered a word of friendly warning that the country should not go in for longdated loans at that time. ,I, ftn^ vel 'y glad to find that the Minister fop Finance has now gone in for a short* dated loan, It must be quito clear to anyone with an impartial view that on an open market in London— with money down to 1 per cent., itnd for discount purposes to under 2 per cent.—- 4 p'or cent, is distinctly high for this coun» try to be called upon to pay. lam quite satisfied that the rate af 3A per cent., which was one that I did my best to secure in London for this country's loans, will rule again before long. In that case, none of the oversea I)o« minions, which offer undoubted security, should be called upon to pay 4 percent. " It is very pleasing to note that Mr. Allen pays a tribute to the 3 per cent, loan raised by me in 1895, and the adVerse criticism he levelled at me then may now be charitably forgotten. But the regrettable thing is that the finances'' of thr country are made a party question by the Reform Party. The finances should not _be forever the subject of party fighting, for it is in the vital interests of everyone that money should be obtained in London at' the least possible rale. That rate is the governing factor to business people and ta small settlers. ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. "Mr. Allen's remarks on the increase of the individual loans to settlers from £500 to £750 should also in fairness be stated more fully. During the last year of my Government. £2,700,000 was advanced under this head, that, is, £1,500,000 more than was advanced last yea» t by the present Government. The re» duction to the individual was necessary, because, as anyone will recognise, it is not possible to go on lending at a rapid rate. That, however, is a different matter from the position where only £1,200,000 is lent out to settlers, who to-day require moro money than ever for development. This must clearly bo the case, as the value of land goes up enormously every year* Regarding Mr. Allen's remarks on "no extravagance," Sir Joseph quoted Mr. Massey as having said in the House in 1910 that "there must be a tapering off of this borrowing." "The ntd remains,'^ added Sir Joseph, "that not withstanding all the criticism hurled at the Liberals, the average of the presenJ Government is much more than anything ever borrowed by the Libeta) Government. V.